About Us

Shakespeare at Winedale is a University of Texas program dedicated to bringing Shakespeare to life through performance.  Founded by Professor James B. Ayres on the belief that the best way to study Shakespeare’s plays is to perform them, Shakespeare at Winedale offers a unique opportunity to explore these rich and complex texts through the creative act of play.  Shakespeare at Winedale is a program of the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts, but many of its activities are centered on the Winedale Historical Center near Round Top, Texas, where for more than thirty-five years students and audiences have come to encounter Shakespeare’s living art.

Established in 1970 as a UT English course, Shakespeare at Winedale has grown into a year-round program reaching many different groups.  Students in the summer program spend two months in the Texas countryside, studying and performing three plays in the converted nineteenth-century barn that is our theatre.  A spring semester version of the course is offered on the UT campus, with performances at Winedale.  Camp Shakespeare provides a two-week experience of learning and playing Shakespeare for 10-16 year-olds.  Our Outreach program brings Shakespeare into the classrooms of elementary school students throughout central Texas, and brings those students to Winedale to perform.  Our program also includes a medieval nativity play performed by children from the Winedale area, a summer course for teachers through the UTeach program, visits by British Shakespeareans to the Winedale theatre barn, and special performances in other venues, including an annual tour to England.

We invite interested students, teachers and audience members—of all ages and backgrounds—to learn more about Shakespeare at Winedale by exploring this site or contacting us directly.